Drone Patents
U.S. Pat. No. 9,269,242
ASVVMS=AUTONOMOUS SPACE VEHICLE VIDEO MONITORING SYSTEM
The following drone patents were granted in February 2016:
| Patent Number | Title |
|---|---|
| 9,269,242 | ASVVMS=Autonomous Space Vehicle Video Monitoring System |
| 9,268,335 | Autonomous vehicle and its failure determination method |
| 9,268,332 | Zone driving |
| 9,266,610 | Controlled range and payload for unmanned vehicles, and associated systems and methods |
| 9,266,487 | Adaptive suppression of vehicle restraint system |
| 9,265,187 | Robotic platform and method for performing multiple functions in agricultural systems |
| 9,262,933 | Lateral avoidance maneuver solver |
| 9,262,929 | Ground-sensitive trajectory generation for UAVs |
| 9,262,789 | System and method for assessing a claim using an inspection vehicle |
| 9,262,688 | Method and system for analyzing and recognition of an emotion or expression from multimedia, text, or sound track |
| 9,261,882 | Apparatus and method for sharing vehicle information |
| 9,261,881 | Filtering noisy/high-intensity regions in laser-based lane marker detection |
| 9,261,879 | Use of uncertainty regarding observations of traffic intersections to modify behavior of a vehicle |
| 9,261,590 | Adaptive algorithms for interrogating the viewable scene of an automotive radar |
| 9,261,379 | Intersection completer |
| 9,261,039 | System and method for alerting and suppression of detonation and/or pre ignition phenomena in internal combustion engines by monitoring RPM fluctuation |
| 9,260,244 | Wireless visualization interface for autonomous ground vehicle signal coverage |
| 9,260,168 | Apparatus and method for neutralizing underwater mines |
| 9,257,729 | Response to over-current in a battery pack |
| 9,257,051 | Aircraft avoidance method and drone provided with a system for implementing said method |
| 9,257,048 | Aircraft emergency landing route system |
| 9,256,994 | Unmanned aerial vehicle authorization and geofence envelope determination |
| 9,256,852 | Autonomous delivery platform |
| 9,256,226 | Object bounding box estimation |
| 9,256,225 | Unmanned aerial vehicle authorization and geofence envelope determination |
| 9,255,805 | Pose estimation using long range features |
| 9,254,870 | Method of generating optimum parking path of unmanned driving vehicle, and unmanned driving vehicle adopting the method |
| 9,254,846 | Predictive reasoning for controlling speed of a vehicle |
| 9,254,802 | Method for operating a safety system of a motor vehicle and motor vehicle |
| 9,254,797 | System and method of controlling a plurality of energy loads and energy supplies in a coordinated manner |
| 9,254,363 | Unmanned device interaction methods and systems |
| 9,253,460 | Automatic white balancing system and method |
| 9,253,453 | Automatic video surveillance system and method |
| 9,251,704 | Reducing driver distraction in spoken dialogue |
| 9,251,698 | Forest sensor deployment and monitoring system |
| 9,251,120 | Wheel localizer, wheel localization device, system, method and computer program for locating a position of a wheel |
| 9,250,630 | Modular flight management system incorporating an autopilot |
| 9,250,353 | Nuclear radiation cleanup and uranium prospecting |
| 9,250,162 | Direct impact aerosol sampling by electrostatic precipitation |
| 9,248,915 | Systems and methods for fuel monitoring |
| 9,248,834 | Predicting trajectories of objects based on contextual information |
| 9,248,832 | Systems and methods for detecting traffic signal details |
| 9,248,743 | Motor vehicle with a control device for an extravehicular computer system |
| 9,248,742 | Motor vehicle comprising a driver assistance device and method for operating a motor vehicle |
Drone Patent Applications
The following drone patent applications were published in February 2016:
| Publication Number | Title |
|---|---|
| 20160055883 | Methods and Apparatus for Automatic Editing of Video Recorded by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle |
| 20160055750 | Optimal Warning Distance |
| 20160054837 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING FEEDBACK TO A USER WHILE INTERACTING WITH CONTENT |
| 20160054737 | Methods and Apparatus for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Autonomous Aviation |
| 20160054733 | VIDEO ENABLED INSPECTION USING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES |
| 20160054143 | UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE NAVIGATION ASSISTANCE |
| 20160054097 | PAYLOAD LAUNCHER AND AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLE |
| 20160053722 | OPTIMAL FEEDBACK HEAT ENERGY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE AND APPLICATIONS |
| 20160052644 | UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE HAVING AN ONBOARD CLEANING DEVICE |
| 20160052634 | HELICOPTER ROTOR ICING DETECTION SYSTEM AND METHOD |
| 20160052514 | MULTI-THRESHOLD REACTION ZONE FOR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE NAVIGATION |
| 20160052027 | SURFACE CLEANING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE |
| 20160052026 | SURFACE CLEANING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE |
| 20160050840 | METHODS FOR AGRONOMIC AND AGRICULTURAL MONITORING USING UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS |
| 20160050011 | DISTRIBUTED AIRBORNE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS |
| 20160049899 | STRUCTURE OF VARIABLE LIGHT DISPLAY FOR VEHICLE TRAFFIC LANE(S) ELECTRICALLY POWER SUPPLIED BY PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS |
| 20160047657 | AUTONOMOUS RANGE-ONLY TERRAIN AIDED NAVIGATION |
| 20160046384 | Sensing Orifice for an Aircraft |
| 20160046374 | UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING SAME |
| 20160046373 | UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING SAME |
| 20160046372 | Rocket Morphing Aerial Vehicle |
| 20160046358 | METHODS AND UNDERWATER BASES FOR USING AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLE FOR MARINE SEISMIC SURVEYS |
| 20160046290 | RECOGNITION AND PREDICTION OF LANE CONSTRAINTS AND CONSTRUCTION AREAS IN NAVIGATION |
| 20160046266 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR AUTONOMOUS BRAKING OF A VEHICLE FOLLOWING COLLISION |
| 20160046261 | ADVANCED SEATBELT INTERLOCK USING VIDEO RECOGNITION |
| 20160043661 | Energy Collection |
| 20160042637 | Drone Safety Alert Monitoring System and Method |
| 20160041628 | FLYING USER INTERFACE |
| 20160041300 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GRAVIMETRY WITHOUT USE OF AN INERTIAL REFERENCE |
| 20160041291 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REMOTE ELECTROMAGNETIC EXPLORATION FOR MINERAL AND ENERGY RESOURCES USING STATIONARY LONG-RANGE TRANSMITTERS |
| 20160040968 | AQUATIC VESSEL FIBER OPTIC NETWORK |
| 20160039542 | MULTI-ZONE BATTERY EXCHANGE SYSTEM |
| 20160039541 | ROBUST AND AUTONOMOUS DOCKING AND RECHARGING OF QUADROTORS |
| 20160039540 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR UAV BATTERY EXCHANGE |
| 20160039536 | SYSTEMS AND DEVICES FOR REMOTELY OPERATED UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE REPORT-SUPPRESSING LAUNCHER WITH PORTABLE RF TRANSPARENT LAUNCH TUBE |
| 20160039459 | AUTONOMOUS LANE CONTROL SYSTEM |
| 20160039458 | AUTONOMOUS LANE CONTROL SYSTEM |
| 20160039300 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR UAV BATTERY POWER BACKUP |
| 20160037136 | OPERATING SENSORS |
| 20160037068 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF STITCHING TOGETHER VIDEO STREAMS TO GENERATE A WIDE FIELD VIDEO STREAM |
| 20160036917 | SMART ROAD SYSTEM FOR VEHICLES |
| 20160036558 | Connected vehicles adaptive security signing and verification methodology and node filtering |
| 20160036519 | MOBILE IONOSPHERIC DATA CAPTURE SYSTEM |
| 20160035224 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENABLING VIRTUAL SIGHTSEEING USING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES |
| 20160035017 | MINI STORAGE SYSTEM USING DISTRIBUTED PEER STORAGE SPACE |
| 20160033968 | WORK VEHICLE AND CONTROL METHOD FOR WORK VEHICLE |
| 20160033966 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING DRONE DELIVERY OR PICK UP DURING A DELIVERY OR PICK UP PHASE OF DRONE OPERATION |
| 20160033963 | REMOTE AUTONOMOUS DRIVING SYSTEM BASED ON HIGH ACCURACY OF LOCALIZATION BY INDOOR INFRASTRUCTURE MAP AND SENSOR AND METHOD THEREOF |
| 20160033855 | PROJECTION ASSEMBLIES FOR USE WITH UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES |
| 20160033546 | WATER RESISTANT AIRCRAFT PITOT DEVICE |
Definitions
As we use the term here, a “drone” is a vehicle that does not have an on-board human operator. Most drones have some degree of autonomous operation. At least some aspect of a drone’s operation is controlled internally. This requires a computer and software. Vehicles that require a human to control every aspect of operation, such as a hobbyist’s remote controlled airplane, are generally not considered drones.
Most drones use a mixture of autonomous and human control. For example, a drone may have the ability to automatically stabilize itself by adjusting control elements and power settings, but a person is needed to tell the drone where to go.
Aerial drones are known by many different names and acronyms. Here are the most popular:
- Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV)
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
- Unmanned Aircraft (UA)
- Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS)
- Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV)
Since drones use a very wide range of technologies (please see our drone technology article), we do not attempt to include every patent or application that could be applied to drones. As we use it here, the term “drone” includes any autonomous vehicle. Please let us know if we have missed any important patents.
Drone patent applications are applications that have been filed with and published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Although most applications are published, a small percentage (about 7% nation wide) are not published for various reasons. Patent applications are generally published 18 months after the first priority date of the application. Published applications have not necessarily been examined and some applications will be abandoned after publication. Once an application is examined and approved and all fees and formalities have been satisfied, the Patent Office grants a patent.
More Information
Please see our patent page for more information on patents and our intellectual property page for more information on intellectual property.